<![CDATA[Bhubaneswar: Think twice before driving or biking under the influence of alcohol on NH-16 here. Police will now patrol liquor shops from a distance to prevent tipsy people from reaching the highway, where the fatality rate arising from road accidents is quite high. "Some days ago, we received a communication from the chief secretary's office asking us to deploy police personnel at sensitive road junctions, which lead to the highway from the liquor shops. All police stations have been asked to identify such junctions near the national highway," said a senior police officer. Official data shows that maximum deaths due to road accidents occur on the national highway. While 175 persons died in accidents in the city last year, the national highway alone witnessed at least 95 deaths. Police commissioner Y B Khurania said, "We recently engaged the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE), a New Delhi-based expert agency, and conducted a survey on the NH. The agency identified spots which are prone to accidents and analysed the road engineering defects. Steps are being taken to prevent drink-driving on the the highway."]]>
